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Since Mattel acquired the American Girls doll line in 1998, the company has retired the original historical doll characters and replaced them with more contemporary girls, Amy Schiller writes in The Atlantic. "With a greater focus on appearance, increasingly mild character development and innocuous political topics, a former character-building toy has become more like a stylish accessory," Schiller notes.

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Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert aren't as funny as they used to be, perhaps because they're pulling their punches when dealing with President Barack Obama, writes Howard Kurtz. "I'd just like to see them take more risks when it comes to challenging their base," he adds.

If broadcast networks don't prevail in their legal challenges against startup streaming service Aereo and DISH Network's ad-skipping DVR, they could be forced into a "radical" change such as becoming cable channels, according to Garth Ancier, a former top TV programmer for Fox, NBC and the WB. "They won't have a choice," Ancier said. However, such a change would mean broadcasters would no longer be able to reach the 11.1 million over-the-air TV homes.

It's been half a decade without a new U.S. brand from Procter & Gamble, and some analysts wonder if the firm has grown complacent and uncreative. To turn things around, P&G is spending $2 billion on research projects, but the company's trademark filings have focused on incremental improvements to and extensions of existing product lines.

A blogger on U.S. News & World Report's Web site recently touched off a debate on that very question with a post arguing that self-employment is on the decline -- proof to some that we have lost our independent streak. Now Jeff Cornwall weighs in, countering earlier statistics and emphasizing a broad definition of entrepreneurship. A government bias toward high-growth, high-potential businesses leads to socialized entrepreneurship, he says, "the one trend that may squash our entrepreneurial culture in this country."

Despite the well-known on-the-job perks, many Google employees are leaving the search engine giant to launch their own companies. While Google is looking to foster innovation within its ranks, many talented engineers can't resist the lure of launching their own startups.